122 Civilians, Including 21 Children and Seven Women, Documented Killed in Syria in August 2020, with Landmines Claiming the Souls of 20% of the Victims

ARK News… The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) announced in its monthly report released yesterday that at least 122 civilians, including 21 children, seven women, and one medical worker were documented killed in August 2020 at the hands of the parties to the conflict and the controlling forces in Syria, 20% of whom were killed by the explosion of landmines, in addition to documenting one massacre and 13 victims who died due to torture during the same period.

This report records the death toll of victims documented killed by the parties to the conflict and the controlling forces in Syria in August 2020, particularly focusing on the victims amongst children and women, victims amongst medical personnel, and those who died due to torture, paying particular attention to the massacres committed by the parties to the conflict over the past month.

As the report reveals, August 2020 saw an increase in the proportion of victims among Syrian citizens killed by landmines in different governorates and regions in Syria, indicating that none of the controlling forces have made any significant efforts in the process of removing landmines, or trying to determine their locations and fence them off, or warn the local population about them.

The report states that the Syrian regime bears the primary responsibility for the deaths of Syrian citizens due to the COVID-19 pandemic, noting that the Syrian regime and its Russian ally have repeatedly been documented as having targeted, bombed, and destroyed most medical facilities in Syria, and killed hundreds of medical personnel, according to the SNHR’s database, with dozens of these lifesaving medics being still classified as forcibly disappeared at the regime’s hands, noting that nearly 3,327 medical personnel are still detained or forcibly disappeared by the Syrian regime.


As the report reveals, the beginning of 2020 was accompanied by a violent military operation led by the Syrian regime and its Russian and Iranian allies against the areas outside its control in and around Idlib. The cities and residential neighborhoods in these areas were subjected to massive and indiscriminate bombardment, which resulted in dozens of deaths and the displacement of residents of entire cities. The first and second months of the year also saw a marked increase in the death toll.

According to the report, the SNHR’s Victim Documentation team documented in August the deaths of 122 civilians, including 21 children and seven women (adult female). This figure is broken down according to the perpetrators in each case, with 12 civilians, including one woman, killed at the hands of Syrian Regime forces, while three civilians killed at the hands of Russian forces. In addition, the report documents the death of one civilian by ISIS and one civilian by the Armed Opposition/ the Syrian National Army.

The report also documents the deaths of eight civilians, including one child and one woman, at the hands of Syrian Democratic Forces, while 97 civilians, including 20 children and five women, killed at the hands of other parties.

The report also documents the death of one doctor due to torture at the hands of Syrian Regime forces.

According to the report, the SNHR’s working team documented at least 31 individuals who died due to torture in August 2020; eight of these victims died at the hands of Syrian Regime forces, one at the hands of the Armed Opposition/ the Syrian National Army, three at the hands of Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, and one at the hands of other parties.

The report also documents one massacre in August 2020 as a result of a car bomb of so-far unknown origin, using the term ‘massacre’ to refer to an attack that caused the death of at least five peaceful individuals in the same incident.

The report includes that there has been an increase in the proportion of victims among Syrians killed by landmines and that none of the perpetrator forces in the Syrian conflict have revealed maps of the places where they planted landmines. The report affirms that SNHR, as a member of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines – Cluster Munitions Coalition (ICBL-CMC), affirms its endeavor within this international coalition to implement a comprehensive ban on the use of landmines and cluster munitions and to ensure that this becomes a customary law. The report reveals that the International Humanitarian Law greatly restricts the use of landmines, which are considered among the most lethal indiscriminate weapons. The vast majority of their victims are civilians, and the threat from the use of landmines affects local communities for years.

The report stresses that the Syrian government has violated international humanitarian law and customary law, and all UN Security Council resolutions, particularly resolution 2139, resolution 2042, and resolution 2254, all without any accountability.

The report calls on the Security Council to take additional steps following its adoption of Resolution 2254, and stresses the importance of referring the Syrian case to the International Criminal Court, adding that all those who are responsible should be held accountable including the Russian regime whose involvement in war crimes has been repeatedly proven.

The report calls on the Syrian regime and all the parties to the conflict and controlling forces to provide detailed maps of the locations where they planted landmines, especially in civilian areas or near residential communities.

Lastly, the report stresses the need for humanitarian organizations to develop urgent operational plans to secure decent shelter for internally displaced persons and to exert efforts in landmine clearance operations in parallel with relief operations whenever the opportunity arises.

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